Implacable
by wizz713
Summary: Captain Gutt was dragged down to the depths of the sea by his mighty ship, but he brought Shira with him! the herd must embark on a perilous journy to save their friend. -THIS IS A SEQUAL TO VENGANCE-
1. Saving Shira

**I know, this reminds you of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, doesn't it? well, its not so don't ask.**

* * *

"NO!" Shouted Diego. he dived, but felt himself restrained. Manny pulled him back to the surface.

"You'll drown!" he told his friend. just as they started this argument, they received a shocked surprize. right in front of them, a chunk of ice appeared. It had surfaced! and even more surprizing; a tiger stood atop now. He seemed to come from inside

"Ahoy down there! come aboard quick!" he said. they hurried over and climbed on the ship. that is, if it could be called a ship. its vast chambers were filled with items Diego could not name. most appeared to have some porpous here. they were all crewed by various species of animals.

"Dive!" someone shouted. through the clear ice on the front, Diego saw them descending through the waves.

"I don't believe I've properly introduced myself." said the tiger. "I am captain Ronald, commander of HMS implacable, this fine vessel on which you now ride. I will assume that was your friend that was sucked down? The demolished fleet that came back called for heavier weapons brought to bear, but it seems you have already dealt with the menace. Shall we pursue it down?"

Diego was momentarily confused by all the questions. after a few seconds of hesitation, he replied, " yes that was our friend and we should pursue."

"Good. make course for interception!" he called.

* * *

Shira knew she had been under only about 30 seconds, but it felt like hours. Gutt's grip never slackened, and she could not find the strength to reach back. she was almost out of air when, it the distance, she saw a shape approach. it engulfed her as she began to black out. she had to take in air. she was aware of a strange crunching sound. she tried to restrain herself from taking in air. she was subconsciously aware of drifting. she could restrain herself no longer and took in a lungful of, whan she was surprized to find was clean, fresh air.

Shira opened her eyes. the first sense to return after the crushing, black pressure, was sight. she saw walls and floor made of thick, white ice. next came smell. she smelled fresh, salty air. next, was taste. she tasted the salty tang of her own blood. the ringing in her ears stopped then. she heard no noise however. finally, as she tried to jump up, her sense of touch returned. she fell back down howling. waves of pain came from her hind leg, the one Gutt had hold of. or rather, _had_ hold of. for he was no longer there.

she gathered herself and rolled over. she gave another howl of pain, but was now able to see the wound. she soon wished she had not. the paw was crushed. crushed by some unrelenting, unstoppable force. that must have been the crunching sound. the heavy ice bulkhead slamming down on her paw. she would not be able to walk for a while.

* * *

"come on then, lets go make sure she's alright!" Said Diego as he led them down the hall. then soon however found their path blocked by a very familiar figure.

"What's the rush tiger?" said captain Gutt's voice as the captain himself stepped from the shadows.


	2. Demands

"You!" Diego shouted angrily. "How did you get here?!" Gutt spun his sword casually.

"I thought I might come with you on this fantastic sub-marine voyage." He remarked, "Better than drowning."

"You can't win Gutt. Its 6 against 1."

"But I have power over you tiger. If I so choose, I can yell a simple command to my crew."

"And what would happen if you did this?" asked Diego cautiously.

"You see, we are diving. the lower we get, the more pressure there is around us. fortunately, we have this huge bulkhead to protect us. What do you think, under all this pressure, would happen to an animal oh... say the size of a tiger was ejected out in to it? Because I have one unwilling former first mate in the airlock." Diego was shocked. but then he gathered his wits about him.

"If you kill Shira," He said with a mental shudder at the thought, "You have no leverage to control me by."

"No. I wouldn't." Gutt admitted. "But, I would have accomplished my goal here: To get revenge on you, your herd, and your mate." Diego found he could argue no farther. "So, what will it be?" asked the captain.

"What do you want?" asked Diego, defeated.

"A new ship, enough provisions to get me on my way, and time to sail to an island of my choosing before you chase me down."

"I thought you wanted revenge." said Manny. "Wouldn't all this be counter productive?"

"Oh, I'd much rather live _and_ have my revenge. now's not the best time for me to act."

"What about a crew?" Asked Diego. "you can't man a ship all alone." the captain smiled.

"I have plenty of men left. many survived the sinking of my ship. now, time is short. do we have a deal, or not?" They did not respond for a time.

finally, Diego broke the silence. "Yes. We have a deal."

"Good. Prepare my ship.


	3. Breaking Promises

**Just a quick notice: My computer is getting repaired so I'm using a different computer. Its slower than the other one, so I won't be writing as often. to make up for it, I made you a new chapter!**

* * *

Diego and the others worked, under Gutt's direction, making a new ship. This would give them an advantage, and a disadvantage. they would know exactly how Gutt's ship worked.

on the other hand, They were, based on the ships they had seen Gutt sailing on before, far better ship builders than he was. so Gutt would have a better ship than ever before.

Through all that time, Shira was still being held hostage and Diego had not seen her since. He did not know anything of her condition. Gutt refused to let him go see her. Then a thought ocured: what if Gutt didn't have Shira at all? What if he was bluffing?

* * *

Shira had slept two uneasy times in the dark room. She could not say she had slept a night, because she had no sense of what time it was outside. She just knew boredom and excruciating pain from her leg. She had seen no one in the last two (days), and had started to wonder what had become of the rest of the herd.

the last she had seen of them was their terrified gazes as she slipped under the waves. Surely they would find her on this strange vessel. the distant noise told her that this thing, whatever it was, was huge. It would be hard to hide. And an angry saber tooth tiger was not something you wanted to be following you.

She was starving now as she had had nothing to eat since her arrival here. and She had had no water either. Shira knew that with her injury, she was using even more energy than usual. but she could not replenish that energy. If no one came to see her before she sleep again, She decided that she would go look for help.

* * *

Diego was infuriated. This monkey was picky! he wanted every thing to be absolutely perfect! He had seen this very same monkey sail ships half as good (if even that) than this one! But he wanted more! The monster of a ship that Diego had sunk was certainly not this good!

But after a day of working on it, Diego had finally satisfied the captain. It was the best ship that he had ever made. finally he presented it to the captain.

"Good. very good." commented Gutt. "It will certainly get me where I want to go."

"Will you release Shira now?" Demanded Diego.

"No" He replied mater of factly. "I think it will be fun to watch her sink to the depths. Now is a good time to act. I have a way out, courtesy of yourselves, a fine sub-marine vehicle, and a hostage. that is everything I need to get my revenge."

"We had a deal!" Diego shouted.

"Yes, we did. the deal was you would make me a ship or I would kill Shira. I never said what would happen if you did build the ship. I can still release her into the depths." Beside him Manny bellowed. Diego had never seen his friend this angry!

"Look pal," Said Manny in a voice that did not allow for argument. "You've got ten seconds to let her go before your body is a perminate piece of the deck." The captain looked at him and laughed.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Oh yea? Care to explain?"

"No, I'd rather not go through all the trouble."

"Manny," Said Diego, "Let him go." The mammoth stared at him.

"What?!"

"Let him go. I'll deal with this one."

"Try me tiger."

* * *

Shira yawned and began falling into an uneasy sleep. as she was drifting off, she heard something in the distance. It was a tiger screaming in pain. She was up in an instant. then she was back down again. She yelped in pain as she tried to put weight on her broken leg. she toppled over again and tried again. this time she tried to brace herself for the pain she knew would come. Again the agony sent her back on the ground.

She picked up her injured leg and braced that shoulder against a wall. She stood up again, this time not putting the broken leg on the ground.

she soon discovered that she was not meant to leave. there was a bulkhead separating her from the agonized wails. she however, being a pirate, had experience with locks. this one was easy. all she had to do was flick a few switches out of line and the door fell open.

she then made another discovery. one much worse. standing in the hall, staring at her with molevelant expressions on their faces, were her old shipmates.


	4. Cargo

Diego found himself on the ground with the huge monkey hanging over him. Claws tore his flesh and foul breath reached his nose. He screamed in pain as the monkey stabbed him. Diego tried to lift one forepaw to deal a blow to gutt, but the captain was to quick for him. The blow never fell. He instead felt another agonizing pain in his back. this was not going well for him.

* * *

Shira faced them with courage.

"Hello Shira." Said Squint.

"Long time no see." Finished Raz.

"Hello my old friends." Said Shira. "So you finally caught up with me? I was beginning to miss you."

"We have orders from Gutt to kill you if you escape." Said Squint.

"It would be nice to earn the honor of finally killing you traitor!" Spat Sailas. Shira licked a paw in mock boredom.

"I'm truly terrified." She said in a contradictory tone.

"Well you should be!" Acused Squint. "We will tear you apart!"

"Give me your best shot Easter Bunny." Squint's eyes burned with the flames of revenge and he looked like he was trying to say something, but all that came out were high-pitched, furious grunts. Shira almost fell over laughing at the sight, But regained her composure in a second.

* * *

"Now, load all the fresh water that will fit on board." Gutt ordered. "And make sure that there is a plentiful supply of firewood on board."

Diego had been badly wounded in the fight. He could not see out of one eye, and had two broken legs, not to mention the countless scratches that Gutt's claws had inflicted. He had passed out from blood loss, and the royal navy doctors were attempting to revive him. Gutt also had a few scars to show for it though. And now he was making them load cargo on to his ship. But what they did not understand, was why.

This cargo was not needed in these quantities! 40,000 gallons of fresh water! 5 tons of lumber that he called "firewood". There was not enough food onboard to suffice for a journey long enough to drink all that water! But they had more pressing maters to see to.

They had still not seen, or heard from Shira. The herd was beginning to worry about her. What if Gutt _had_ killed her but was letting them think that she was still alive so that they would do as told? Things had better clear up soon, or that monkey would get it!

* * *

"Squint!" Shouted Shira. "Stop!" She commanded. "I know something: Captain Gutt is dead! That makes _me_ your captain! So I order you to stand down!"

Squint smiled at her. "Oh Shira, I have news for you; Gutt is alive. He climbed aboard this ship and he told us to keep you as our hostage. He is quite alright, but here's the best part: Your herd is not. They will all die. First, As I recall, We are to kill that other one. What is his name? Diego ,yes that's him. And..."

He was cut off as a streak of silver shot through the air with the speed of a bullet. It hit squint Square in the chest and he found himself upside down dangling from Shira's claw. Untill she slammed his head against the floor of course. Shira punches sailas in the head and he toppled over. She turned and shoved Flynn into the air lock, sealing the door. She picked up Boris and used him like a battering ram on the wall and grabbed Raz around the neck, pinning her to the wall. all of this happened even before sailas hit the ground from his five foot tall perch.

She remembered last time she had fought this kangaroo and stayed well off to the side so as to avoid being kicked. "Where is Diego?" She asked in a menacing voice. Raz gulped.

"E'll kill me if I tell you." She said in a frightened voice.

"Tell me or I'll kill you my self!"

"Fine. Gutt's got 'im on deck four. In the hospital." Then the kangaroo passed out from lack of oxygen and Shira let go. The kangaroo took three deep breaths as she hit the floor, unconscious. Then the adrenalin wore off and Shira fell down again.


	5. Gutt's departure

Diego awoke laying down on something warm and soft. He smelt the scent of fresh meat and opened his eyes. the room he was in was covered in green pelts, one of wich he was on. there were several other animals there. it was very busy as sailors rushed in and out. he tried to sit up, but felt a gentle paw on his shoulder holding him down.

"Don't try to get Diego. You'll only reopen the wounds." Said a calm, soothing voice.

"What happened?" Asked Diego.

"You were attacked. You fought your opponent valiantly, but he beat you in the end."

"Where's Shira?"

"Shira? Is that one of your friends? They've..."

"She's a female saber tooth with grey fur." He told the man.

"No, I'm afraid I do not know her."

"Tell Manny to find her." He instructed. "He's the mammoth."

"Of course." He replied and Diego heard his foot steps fade away. A few minutes later he returned.

"Your friend has an idea where she might be and is going to fetch her." He told Diego. "Several of our guards have gone with him to insure his safety. Those pirates still have control over the lower deck."

Diego turned over to see who he was speaking to. He was a tiger with the slightest touch of gold to his fur. He was sitting down so as to be at eye level with Diego and he had eyes that glowed silver.

"Where am I?" Asked Diego, taking a bite of the food they had served him.

"This is the medical facility on deck four." He told Diego. "You have been sleeping for 10 hours."

"Ten hours?" Exclaimed Diego.

"yes sir, ten hours."

"Well then..." He was cut off by a commotion in the hallways. Diego stopped mid-sentance and stared. He saw Manny and four tigers in the uniform of the royal navy rush in. He did realize the cause of their hurry untill he saw their cargo: In Manny's tusks, was a body, beaten and blood stained; hardly recognizable for what it was. and he would not have realized had it not been for the scent. This broken body belonged to Shira.

* * *

Shira tried to get up, like last time, but it appeared that she had further injured her leg. her hunger came back as did her thirst. she realized that if she did not get water soon, she would die of thirst. She finally gave up and gave in to her inevitable fate: She was going to die of thirst here. and so she simply ceased all movement and waited for the end.

Then there came a ruckus. She perked her ears and listened. There were heavy footsteps, like some large animal was stampeding towards her. She lifted her head and watched the passage. then, around the corner came Manny.

"Help!" She called. He came running over and seemed to be saying something, but she was drifting off to sleep.

* * *

"Shira!" Diego bellowed. He again tried to jump up, but the tiger again held him down.

"Sir, I am afraid I must ask you to stay still." He said in his ever calm voice.

"Manny! Bring her over here!" He called. Soon they lay in bed, side by side while the doctor tended to them.

Shira slept on, through the night and the tiger stayed with her the whole time. He fed her herbs and made sure she was kept warm and clean. He applied cream to her scratches that he explained would lower the risk of infection.

Then he examined her leg. He maintained his calm face, but Diego noticed that his hand went back and traced it again, as if he were making sure. For the first time his face looked worried.

"What?" Asked Diego "Is something wrong?"

He did not answer immediately, but when he did he sounded more worried. "Her leg, the bone is shattered. Sir Diego, I am afraid she may never walk again. There is no way that I know of that can treat such a damaged bone. But do not fear." He added. "She is at no risk of death. She simply needs food, water and rest, that will heal the small injuries, but this bone, It cannot be fixed. I have seen broken bones, and I have set them, but in 7 years with the royal navy, I have never seen such a shattered bone."

"What do you think caused the damage?" He asked.

"A heavy crushing force was applied to it. You see, bones in the legs are designed to shatter if they are given to much stress. this is because there is a weak spot engineered in the middle. that way, if you were to suddenly put 900 pounds of force on it, the shock would be halted by the break. If it weren't, you could cause yourself internal damage far worse. some crushing force suddenly applied itself on that weak point, causing it to shatter into many pieces. The cracks would spread across the bone and the whole bone would be destroyed. But it gets worse."

"What do you mean?"

"They tell me she actually stood on this leg to fight. After she heard you screaming. She damaged it farther by doing that. You see, bones have on them two tiny life forms. one builds bone, and the other produces acids that destroy it. that way your bones are constantly being molded and remoulded. when a bone breaks, the blood vessels around it break also. nerves send the message to your brain the a bone has been broken through a signal of pain. Blood is programmed to clot over any gap, so when to comes out of the damaged blood vessels, it forms a huge blood clot over the cracks in the bone. over the course of a few weeks, the bone builders will cover each blood cell in bone to make it a solid bone again."

"So, all the pain; how was she able to bear it, standing on that leg?"

"The body has two powerful reactions that were triggered then; first, the chemical adrenalin rushed to the heart. the heart has a piece in it called the pace maker that sends electrical signals across its surface to make every individual cell beat at the same time. the adrenalin stimulates it to beat much faster. this was why she had so much strength. the reason she was able to deal with the pain is quite similar. there is a chemical called endorphins. it is the best painkiller in the word. we doctors have tried to synthesise it, but we have fallen far short. the endorphins go up and down the spinal cord, dulling the pain signals. when this is released, she would not have felt pain for ten minutes after. these chemicals are released when the body fees it has no choice if it is to survive. When she heard your screams, it became a matter of life or death. so her body released the reserves of both these chemicals. the body hold them in limited supply though. soon she ran out and could feel pain again. that is when she collapsed."

Diego knew that this doctor would do al he could for them, but he could not fix this wound.

* * *

Shira stirred. She smelt the scent of Diego and her eyes flew open. She rolled over and looked at him. He opened his eyes at the soft sound of her fur on the pelt and looked at her.

"Where are now?" She asked.

"This is a hospital. We're here because we both almost got ourselves killed."

the morning light was now seeping in. With it came their doctor. He lay food in front of them and stepped back to let the ravenous sabers eat. after they were done, he stepped forward again.

"Madam Shira, I am glad to see that you are finally awake. And Sir Diego, I trust you had a good night's sleep? your friends were most anxious about you madam Shira. They were here twice last night, asking if you were alright."

Memories began flooding back to Shira's mind. She remembered the sinking ship. she remembered going down, never to return to the light. she remembered the pain of the huge door, slamming shut on her leg. she remembered fighting the crew.

"What happened to you Diego?" She asked him.

"sir Diego saw attacked by the monkey. I believe you call him Gutt."

and just then, the rest of the herd appeared, not to check up on Shira, but to bring urgent news.

"Its Gutt! He's leaving!" Shouted Manny. Diego jumped up before the doctor could stop him and ran with the rest of them, the doctor yelling after them. In the confusion, Manny picked up Shira and carried her away with them. When they got to deck one, they saw Gutt wa fast at work as he had already almost prepared his ship for departure.

Not realizing they were there, he yelled to his crew; "Prepare to make sail for the arctic circle!"

The herd ran out to confront him as the last rope was pulled up.

"Stop right there!" yelled Manny.

They turned around and stared in surprize at the herd. Diego charged and Manny, forgetting he was carrying Shira, followed. As they approached, Shira fell of Manny's tusks and landed hard. She followed them, not stepping on her hind leg. Gutt smiled when he saw her.

"Come here kitty." He taunted. Shira's rage out weighed her sense, and she leapt at him. her leg buckled as she put weight on it, and she fell short. Gutt slashed a set of claws horizontally across the back of her good hind leg. She let out a yowl of pain and collapsed on the sub-marine vehicle's deck as Gutt sailed away, laughing.


	6. The hunt

**Sorry for my absence. I've been on vacation and just needed to spend a little time with my family. so to make up for it, I've written another chapter for each of my unfinished stories. And I wrote a new story! So have fun!**

* * *

"Shira!" They all shouted in unison as she leapt. They all saw her hind leg buckle and she fell short. Then Gutt's claws slashed and there was blood everywhere. accompanied by a howl of pain and gutt's laughter, as he sailed into the distance on the speedy ship they had labored so hard on. But they only cared about Shira.

"Quick! Get her to medical quarters!" Shouted Manny down the tunnel. immediately, four medics carrying a stretcher ran up the incline and rushed to her side. She was carefully loaded onto the stretcher and rushed to the medical bay.

The medics were followed by the rest of the herd and in two minutes, they were all in the medical bay.

Doctors rushed back and forth, helping patients with mortal wounds. Shira was now added to the bunch.

Doctors rushed to her side and were hastening to bandage the leg. Blood however still poured out. The ice of the floor around her bed was soon red and the doctors' hands were also.

They called for an expert to examine the injury, and they overheard him saying:

"This is bad. Her femoral artery has been cut. You must stop the bleeding quickly or she will die."

So the doctors, now simply trying to keep her alive, applied a tourniquet to her leg. More heavy bandages were called for to wrap the wound in and they elevated her leg so as to make it more difficult for her heart to pump blood to the wound. The blood flow soon eased and the doctors breathed a sigh of relief. Then one came to give them the news.

"She will live, But she will never have use of that leg again. We completely cut the blood flow to it, but we have caused irreparable damage to the cell structure in the process. And even if we hadn't, there was a tendon in her leg that was sliced. Without that tendon, She still couldn't make full use of that leg." He then walked away and rejoined the other doctors in healing the wounded.

Gutt had done this! And all the herd swore vengeance on him, at any cost.

Five minutes later, they were all assembled on the bridge. The captain of the submarine now spoke:

"So, we are to chase down that ship?"

"Yes. Do you know where it went?"

"Well, It is not possible to be sure at such a low stage of the journey, but by their course, I would say that they were headed to the arctic circle."

"the arctic circle? Why?"

"I have no more idea than you." He replied.

"Well," said Diego, "If we know where they are, let's go get them!"

And so the HMS Implacable set sail for the arctic circle. In the meanwhile, as no incident followed their departure, Diego went to visit Shira.

He saw that she was just now waking up from a long sleep as he arrived. He approached her bed and sat down.

"Shira, how are you?" he asked

"Not so well." She replied.

"Well if you like..." He was cut off as Shira pulled him closer and kissed him. Diego was surprized at this unexpected turn of events and after she pulled away he asked:

"What was that for?"

"After all I've been through in the last week, it felt good." She replied. "So, what's new? And why are we in the medical bay again?"

Diego's heart sank. He had hoped to save that knowledge for later

"It's your leg."

"What about it? I thought they had fixed it."

"No, your other leg. Gutt almost killed you. He broke your femoral artery and a major tendon in your leg. The doctors had to cut all blood flow to save you. They will have to amputate your leg."

There was a pause. Then:

"I HATE THAT MONKEY!"

Diego licked her comfortingly. "We're pursuing him now. And I promise, we will catch him."


	7. The Invincable returns

The HMS Implacable, unnoticed by their prey, followed the yet unnamed ship to the arctic circle. and at 30° West and 60° North, the two ships turned farther northward and went between Greenland and Iceland. They were now in the arctic ocean. itbecame cold in the submarine because of the water, tempertures in the ocean went down to -15° Fahrinheit! They were most of the time forced to stay underwater because the ocean was iced over.

This meant that they could gain an advantage on Gutt. he would have to go around the obstacles but they culd go under.

one day, the man at the pariscope made an announcement:

"Captain! They are dumping water off the side of their ship!"

"What!" Boomed the captain, disbeleivingly. but he took the scope in his hands and saw that what the boy had said was true. "That crazy mokey! What's the good of wasting all our water! Especialy out here where everything... everything freezes." In that instant the all understood at once.

"Battle stations!" ordered the captain "Full speed ahead! Sink that ship! Now!" and their suspicions were true.

Gutt was pouring all the water they gave him down the sides of the ship, where it would freeze. It had not frozen already because it was kept heated by many wood fires. when poured over the side, it thickened the hull.

"Dive men, dive!" Yelled the captain. "load starbord topedo bays!"

"Sir!" called the navigator.

"What is it sargent?"

"The ship! Her front's been made an icebreaker's hull! and she's headed straight for us!"

"Dive then!"

"Can't sir! the ballast taks are full, but the cold wa'er in making us float!"

"Fire torpedoes!"

Then there was a loud crash. The pirates looked just as surprized as them. They had not known that the sub was there. Then the submarine started to sink.

"Empty the balast takns!" ordered the captain "Surface! Now!" so the sub srfaced. "sargent! What's our status!?"

"No' good sir! wa'er's pourin' in on decks 3 an' 5!"

"Get the engineers on the line! Have it fixed!"

"We're tryin' sir, but the line's been broken!"

"Fine then! We remain surfaced! Gunners! Fire at will!"

Then the masive high valocity cannons were fired. The other ship's armor was no match for these guns. they were designed to fire under high pressure. out here they did unmatched damage.

Gutt however, was not ready to give in so easily. He doubled his efforts to upgrwade his hull integrity. And if he did, they would have no chance at all.

They realised this. Then it was remembered , while the war was going on, that the decks were flooding. The medical bay on deck 3 was full.

They were reminded of this when Manny spoted doctors. They had been evacuated from deck 3 first, and sent to the bridge where it was safe. They were there without patients because they had been off duty and rushed out.

"Shira!" Diego shouted.


	8. Incincible 2

In the next twenty seconds, the whole sub was in an uproar. Sailors ran this way and that. Officers shouted orders back and forth. There were violent shakings as the recoil of the huge guns shook the submarine.

In the middle of all this chaos, a mammoth cleared the way for a tiger, while a sloth clung to his back. The tiger bore two possums and they refused to stop for anyone.

They were making for deck 3; the deck where their friend and in fact Diego's mate, Shira was drowning... again. Why always her?

Now they were in a panic. Shira had two badly damaged legs, and the fore could not swim.

A path cleared as sailors, afraid of being trampled, flattened themselves against a wall.

Then there was a sound. it came from below. A crack. It was followed by an even stranger noise; laughter. The pirates! _Implacable_ was being boarded!

"Hurry!" Diego shouted to Manny.

"I am hurrying!" He replied

"Manny!" Shouted Sid above the din. "Could you go... a little... slower?" As he was shaken around by the mammoth's gallop. They both ignored him. They were to intent on saving their companion... again.

* * *

Shira began to panic when water flowed in. The water had been shallow at first, and she had no trouble keeping her head out of it. But now, it had risen, and was several inches deep.

Everyone else in the medical bay had gone into a complete panic. Shira, however, had friends. Surely Diego and Manny would come to her aid.

The water was now above her mouth, and she breathed through her nose. If they were to save her, they had better do it soon.

* * *

Manny had succeeded in getting them down to deck 3. Now the medical bay was not far off. They had not encountered another living thing since leaving the bridge. But now, they thought that they heard a sound in the distance.

They all recognized it at once.

"Run!" Shouted Diego. but there was no need to tell them. They had all figured it out at the same time.

They rounded a bend and came face to face with Gutt's old crew.

Diego roared and, without even giving them a chance to speak, charged.

The next few seconds were total chaos, as the old rivals battled. Then, a voice cut them off.

"Help!" Called Shira. For a second, the two armies stood still and looked at each other. Then Diego charged straight into the pirates, bowling over a few, and charged through the door to the medical bay.

There was Shira. She had propped her head up on a pile of spare bedding.

"Help!" She called again. "The water is rising to fast!" Diego ran forward and helped her up.

She tried to walk, but Diego soon found himself carrying her.

he made slow progress towards the door. Just as he reached it, a voice stopped him in his tracks:

"Going already Kitty?" It was gutt himself.

"You!" Shouted Diego.

"Yrs, me. So here we are again; I have something to offer you, and something to gain."

"And what could you offer me? Shira is safe with me now."

"Not quite safe; You see the ground underneath your feet? It's thin ice. one little jab of the sword, and you _both_ go tumbling into the abyss."

"I've been doing work for a long time, but I never thought I'd see the day when my best client would threaten me twice in a single day."

"Well now you have tiger. So, do you wit=sh to discus my price?"

"How about, we hear my bargain first?" Diego asked, dropping shira off his back and charging at the support beams that Gut hung from. this was what Shira had whispered in his ear while gutt spoke of bargains.

She fell to the floor and Gutt jumped down. He drove his sword into the ice and leapt again.

Cracks started to form and Shira looked up in surprize.

"I thought he was bluffing." She said, as she tumbled into the water.

Diego began to panic when he realized that she had not taken a breath. She would only have about fifteen seconds of air!

Diego prepare to jump in, when he was again stopped by Gutt.

"The kitty, or the mammoth?" He asked, holding his sword to a rope holding Manny to the deck.

Manny's legs were tied to a piece of ice. It was just buoyant enough to keep the mammoth upside down, but not enough to make him float. he would drown.

So this was gutt's revenge; He would make Diego choose wich of his herdmates to save.


	9. My decision

**Wow, two months. Yea... Sorry about that guys. But, here you go anyways:**

* * *

Diego looked around frantically. What could he do, his eyes hardened. He had made his decision.

"I'm sorry, Manny." He said. Then, he disappeared beneath the water.

Diego knew that Shira had only seconds of air left. He needed to get to her fast!

He dove deeper and deeper and finally, there she was. He swam underneath Shira and hauled her upwards. As he ascended, he saw Manny, sinking to the depths.

Sorrow welled up inside of him, but he had a mission. He had to get Shira to the surface! Diego pushed with all of his might to get to the surface, but to no avail. He was tiring quickly. He forced himself on though. Almost there! And then suddenly, something pulled on him, stopping him dead.

He shook his captive leg, but could not wrestle it free. Then came panic.

_No!_ He told himself, _Now is not the time to panic!_ Diego tried to get back control_._ He looked back and saw a thick rope tied around his leg. The other end was attached to the underside of deck 3.

so this was Gutt's plan; He would drown just inches from safety, while Shira was forced to watch.

Because he would make sure that if he died, she would at least live. Diego took Shira's leg in his jaws and flung her up through the hole just in front of him.

* * *

Shira was vaguely aware of something under her. But she did not have the energy left to care. There was one thing that she was sure of; She would die here in less than a minute.

Then there was something above her as well. She weakly opened one eye, but saw little around the blackness engulfing her vision. Then suddenly, she could breathe again.

Shira instinctively sucked in several huge mouthfuls of air and collapsed on her side, panting. She was allowed only a short time to rest, though.

Gutt soon had her in his iron grip.

"Hello, Kitty." He spat.

Shira hissed at him and struggled to break free, but she was still weak from her near drowning experience.

"Your arrival is perfectly timed, Kitty." Gutt explained. "in fact, the gift I arranged for you has just been prepared."

Shira was confused momentarily by his words. And then, it suddenly hit her. literally. Because Gutt slammed her face into the ground. And what she saw called up every foul word she had ever heard.

Shira screamed the worst insults she could ever remember hearing at Gutt as she struggled with al her remaining strength to push him off.

This only made him laugh.

And then, Shira was held by a new emotion as Diego stopped moving.

* * *

Diego knew that he was going to die. He could not hold his breath much longer. Some base instinct inside of him said to breath. But his brain fought with the instinct, driven by the need to survive. But there was nothing that either of them could do.

He felt his life slipping away, but was vaguely aware of a tugging sensation on his leg, the one that was bound.

Diego was weak now. All his energy was gone. His brain stopped all motion in a last, desperate struggle to preserve life. But it would only prolong his time here. It would only buy him a few precious seconds.

Then he felt himself sinking, down into the dark abyss that awaited him. There was a strange sensation in his mind, as if there was some urgent thought there that he could not quite decipher.

_Sinking! Sinking!_ was the one thought in his mind. Then he caught on as swam for his life, calling up all reserves of strength. He felt his adrenalin course through his veins and he made one last heave, pushing through the surface. He sucked in the air, collapsing on his side.

He just lied there for several seconds, before he felt the grip around his throat.

"You!" Shouted Gutt. "How did you escape again?!"

Diego looked defiantly into the eyes of the monkey, not saying a word.

"Speak tiger!"

"No." Diego replied stubbornly.

Diego felt the monkey's hands close around his neck, ready to kill him when...

"Oi! Hold it right there mate! I don't appreciate you treating my friends like that."

"Buck!" Diego called.

* * *

**So, I brought back an old friend, just like I said in the description for Vengeance. I thought this would make the rest of my story a bit more... interesting.**

**Now, about my absence, these past few months have been very, very busy. aside from this, I write music, and am working on a special project of my own, that fell far behind schedule. So, I hope to be updating more often in the future. Hope to be writing again soon. But for now, goodbye!**


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